


Signs of Friendship

by ranguvar82



Series: Silence and Strength [40]
Category: Good Omens (TV)
Genre: Crowley is Good With Kids (Good Omens), Gen, POV Outsider, Sign Language
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-24
Updated: 2020-05-24
Packaged: 2021-03-02 22:49:19
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,639
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24354607
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ranguvar82/pseuds/ranguvar82
Summary: The village primary school was not a large one, but it met the needs of the inhabitants. The teachers were knowledgeable about the subjects and all were well loved by their students and liked by the parents. There was very little bullying, and almost no problem students.Except for Malcolm Roberts.
Relationships: Aziraphale/Crowley (Good Omens)
Series: Silence and Strength [40]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1630903
Comments: 6
Kudos: 184





	Signs of Friendship

Signs of Friendship

The village primary school was not a large one, but it met the needs of the inhabitants. The teachers were knowledgeable about the subjects and all were well loved by their students and liked by the parents. There was very little bullying, and almost no problem students.

Except for Malcolm Roberts. Malcolm was the son of a local farmer, and at five years old he was just starting on his first day. Everyone knew about the Roberts’ son. He was rumored to be a hellion, unable to be controlled by either his mother or father. He supposedly had a horrible temper, and it was whispered that he had once hit his mother so hard that he made her bleed. Needless to say, no one was eager to have him in their classroom.

“Wot are we going to do if he decides to show his temper?” Miss Dana, the English teacher, asked the headmaster Mr. Reed. “If we fight back, we’ll look like the biggest bullies ever, and if we just let him go hog wild, we’ll look like pushovers. Isn’t there a way for him to still learn while being separated from the other children?”

“From what I understand, that’s part of the problem. He’s so isolated at home that he hasn’t had a chance for too much interaction. This will be good for him.”

So, with much reluctance from the teachers, Malcolm Roberts started his first day of kindergarten. He was scared. The classroom was bright and loud. But his teacher looked nice enough. Malcolm only hoped she would understand that he didn’t like to talk because it was so difficult for him. He wanted to learn.

“Now children, when I call your name I want you to say ‘Present’.” Miss Dana said, smiling at the sea of tiny faces. She ran down the list, with each child piping up “Present” when their name was called. Finally she got to Malcolm. Timidly, he raised his hand. “Malcolm, you must say ‘present.’” He shook his head, mouth tightly closed. “Malcolm, there’s no need to be shy. Everyone else has spoken up.” Another shake of the head, and Miss Dana felt the beginnings of exasperation. “Malcolm, you are being rather disobedient. If you do not wish to be sent to the headmaster’s on your first day. I would advise you to say something.”

There was a long silence, then a tiny voice. “P...p...p...” The other children began laughing, and Malcolm snapped his mouth shut, tears brimming in his eyes. Miss Dana suddenly understood.

“It’s alright, dear, you don’t have to. I’ll accept a hand up from you. Now, class, I don’t want to hear any of you laughing at Malcolm. He has as much right to be here as everyone, and just because he has trouble speaking does not make him stupid.”

One little girl piped up. “He’s like Tony!” Miss Dana blinked at her, confused. She hadn’t been a resident of the village long, having moved in only a week before school had started. “Who’s Tony?”

That seemed to be some sort of cue, because all the children started talking at once. “Please! One at a time!” She pointed to the girl that had first spoken. “Annie, you first.”

Annie grinned. “Tony Crowley and his husband are our good luck charms. He’s a demon, and his partner Ezra is an angel. Tony’s a girl sometimes, and sometimes both a boy and girl. He’s got these really bad scars on his throat because he had something horrible happen to him when he was an angel, and he can’t speak. He rescued Denise and Dahlia from something real bad last month. He’s actually really sweet once you get to know him.”

Miss Dana frowned. “Young lady, it’s not very nice to call someone a demon. Demon’s are evil creatures.”

Another child piped up. “Tony’s not evil. He is a demon, though. And Ezra’s really an angel. Honest. Ask anyone in the village. Besides, everyone knows Ezra’s the scarier one.” The other children nodded. Annie spoke again. “Tony’s also real good with kids that are, um, different. Ezra’s told us about some of them.”

“I’m sure he is, but we are wasting time. Everyone open your books to page one.”

Later that day in the teacher’s lounge, Dana was sitting and having a cup of tea with Mr. Fredericks, the maths teacher. “So, how was the first day?” he asked her. She sighed, looking into her cup.

“It was fine. Malcolm wasn’t as bad as I feared, to be honest.” Mr. Fredericks grinned.

“Not too surprised. Rumors tend to escalate.”

“Hmm.” She took a sip of tea. “Eric, do you know a villager named Tony Crowley?”

Fredericks laughed. “Everyone knows him. Or her. Or them, depending. Why?”

“The children were telling me about..them. Apparently, they’re a demon with a speech problem.” She smiled at the last line. Fredericks nodded.

“Yeah, pretty much. The whole village knows that. Why?” Dana stared at him, gobsmacked. He laughed. “I know it’s hard to believe...”

“More like impossible!”

“But it’s true. What else did the kids tell you about them?”

“That they were good with...kids like Malcolm. He’s smart, but he’s got such a terrible stutter and since he hasn’t learned to write well, I have no idea how to communicate with him. He’s forever moving his hands, and no matter what I say, he won’t keep them still!” She sighed deeply.

Fredericks thought for a moment, then brightened. “You know, I’m pretty sure Vice Headmaster Simons has Ezra’s number. Why don’t we go see him, and ask if he’ll give Ezra a call?”

It turned out that Simons did in fact have Ezra’s number, and after a brief conversation, it was agreed that Tony would drop by the next day to talk with Malcolm.

Dana had been building up her idea of what Tony looked like all morning. She knew a bit about demons, having been forced to attend Sunday school when younger by her gran. So she was expecting horns, a tail, and red eyes. Oh, and brimstone. Her teachers had drilled into her that demon’s always smelled of Hell. He’d probably be dressed in rags, too.

What she wasn’t expecting was an aging rock star with the reddest hair she’d ever seen, tight black jeans that left very little to the imagination, a black shirt and blazer with what she could swear was a woman’s silk scarf, sunglasses that probably cost more than three months’ salary, and snakeskin boots with a three inch heel. The hair was done up in one of the most complex braids Dana had ever seen, and she was pretty sure if it was loose, it would come down past Mx. Crowley’s bum. And those scars...Dana didn’t think she’d ever seen ones that bad before.

‘Tony’ waved at her, smirking. He somehow pulled a notepad and pen out of the pocket of those jeans, scribbled something on a sheet of paper, tore it off, and handed it to her. ‘I know, it’s a lot. But don’t be deceived by appearances. You must be Dana. I’m Anthony.’ He held out his hand, and Dana shook it. It was rather cool, not hot like she expected.

“It’s a pleasure, Anthony. I’ve heard you’re...good with, well, children with...speech problems.”

‘Not just speech problems. I have a, well, Azira..I mean Ezra, calls it a connection with children that...get overlooked.’

“Well, I hope you can do something with Malcolm. Would you like to come meet him?” Tony nodded, and Dana led the way to her class. The children, who had been sitting and waiting for her to return, noticed that she had someone with her. Then they noticed who it was. The class erupted into chaos as they swarmed him, all of them babbling at once.

“Tony! Tony! I lost a toof, Tony!”

“Tony, can we come over and climb your trees again? We wanna see your snake! We wanna see Treble! Can we help Ezra make more cookies? Can we ride in your car? We wanna play in the garden! Can we...”

Dana clapped her hands once. “Enough, all of you! You’ll overwhelm the poor man.” The children frowned, but Tony didn’t look too bothered. He gently dislodged a few of the children, then walked over to where Malcolm sat, sitting next to him. Dana watched, hoping for the best.

Malcolm stared at the scars on Tony’s throat, then made a motion with his hands. Dana sighed, ready to step in, when Tony began making those same motions. Malcolm’s face lit up. The child’s fingers went faster, and a huge grin broke out on his face. Tony was grinning just as wide, his own fingers nearly a blur. Malcolm made a gesture with his hands, pointing at Dana, and Tony patted his shoulder and motioned for Dana to come over.

“I’m so sorry, I should have told you he does that.” Tony blinked at her. “I’ve no idea what it is.”

‘It’s sign language.’

“B..but that’s for deaf people.” She gulped as Tony glared at her.

‘It’s also for people who cannot speak, like me, and like Malcolm. He’s been trying to talk with you this whole time, and you’ve been dismissing it. Now, the way I see it, you have two choices. One, you keep treating him like a problem child and nothing will change, or two, you learn to communicate with him.’

“But I don’t know sign language!”

Tony frowned, then smiled and handed her another sheet of paper. ‘I could come in maybe once a week and teach everyone in here. It would give me something to do, and I know Ezra wouldn’t mind. What do you say?’

Dana held out her hand. “We have a deal.”


End file.
